Advice on Repository Setup

[lrod78]

Wanted to get some advice on a repository setup.

What we currently have set up is an IBM 3650 M3 running W2012 R2 with 2 DAS arrays attached to it. The first DAS is filled with 12 x 2TB drives in a Raid 10 and the 2nd is filled with 12 x 2TB in Raid 6. The thinking of the setup was that our major production VMs get backed up to DAS1 so that they can be spun up in case of an outage and restored while it still runs. The 2nd DAS unit is for not so important VM's and it's also where the 2nd week of the major VM's get moved to free up space. All in all, it seems to work well. It's connected directly to the SAN for direct SAN access transport mode.

Here's the problem, we're going to be migrating 5 major prod servers to VM and the storage space isn't going to cut it anymore. I have about 14 to 15k in my budget to work with(thank goodness for a good manager).

So i'm trying to work out some options here and could use some advice because I really feel like I'm overthinking the hell out of this. Storage wise, it looks likes for the first 7 restore points, I'm going to need around 10TB that will most likely need to be on Raid 10. Anything beyond the 7 restore points can go on a slower Raid 6 array. I'd love to go all flash for these and really wow the higher ups, but that's a little out of my budget at this point. I can accomplish the 10TB in a Raid 10 if I go with 4 x 8TB drives. That line of thinking brought me to just adding another DAS to the current setup which led to this first option:

Option 1 - Estimated around 13k to 14k(should hopefully be quoted for less or I'm going to need to have a seriously talk with my vendor)
- Additional 12 Bay DAS array with 12 x 8TB drives.
- 4 in a Raid 10 should provide roughly 14.6 TB usable
- 7 in a Raid 6(1 hot spare) should provide roughly 36.4 TB usable

For some reason option seemed like it was really friggen expensive for what it was and I don't know how I feel about really large drives in a raid 6 array. The rebuild time has be pretty long. So that led me to option 2

Option 2 - Estimated roughly 10k
- Additional 12 Bay DAS array
- 4 x 8TB in a Raid 10 should provide roughly 14.6 TB usable
- 7 x 4TB in a Raid 6(1 hot spare) should provide roughly 18.2 TB usable

Less space on the 2nd array and the rebuild on a drive failure shouldn't be as bad. Still felt like this was too much though and then option 3 came to mind:

Option 3 - Estimated 13 to 14k
- New RD650 server(we're a IBM/Lenovo shop)
- 4 x 8TB in a Raid 10 should provide roughly 14.6 TB usable
- 7 x 8TB in a Raid 6(1 hot spare) should provide roughly 36.4 TB usable - Attach a DAS

Now I feel like throwing a sledgehammer at this, but at the cost of adding another DAS arrary I can bring in a new server that's a little faster then the current one with the same amount of storage. I could then move the older server with one of the DAS arrays to our 2nd DataCenter/DR location and have copies of our backups end up there. I could also do this around the release of W2016 to try to take advantage of it's storage features and improved dedupe. (Side note - Not opposed to non-ibm/lenovo solutions. Checked into HP storage and servers as well, just more familiar with lenovo configurations).

Here's where I need your advice. I feel like i'm spending more time on this then I should, but at the same time, I don't want to make any mistakes and would like to make a really well informed decision.

[nmdange]

If you're not copying your backups offsite right now, Option 3 would be the way to go for sure.

If you are willing to entertain someone other than IBM/Lenovo/HP/Dell, then many "white-box" vendors can give you servers with lots of storage for less. However, you probably wouldn't see a huge savings with only 12 drives.

Some vendors I've worked with:
https://www.aberdeeninc.com/abcatg/backup-server.htm
http://dataonstorage.com/dss-dense-data ... orage.html
http://www.raidinc.com/product/servers/storage-servers